Flourishing with Food Allergies: Social, Emotional and Practical Guidance for Families with Young Children [Paperback]

A Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2008

Anderson tackles a scary problem in a friendly way by sharing stories from other parents and guidance from medical professionals along with the latest research about food allergies. The case studies help readers identify with various symptoms of food allergies that can often be hard to see and can be missed by physicians at first glance. She explores the feelings of denial and guilt that a parent may experience along with difficulties between spouses, relatives and friends with ways to proactively handle these problems including a chapter written by her husband that is geared towards fathers to be supportive and how to minimize risks. The perspectives from the doctors offer specialists in allergy, psychology, pediatrics and homeopathy. Each physician looks at problems differently which can help parents better understand their child’s physician.

Research on the latest food allergy studies are world-wide and include over 160 references. Questions are tackled such as, "Why are food allergies on the rise?” and “How are food allergies linked to autism, ADHD and asthma? " In addition to the discussion of studies and theories, there are practical solutions to everyday problems. Should a parent keep their child home rather than send them to pre-school? If so, how can the child be best prepared? Once entering school, what plans can be created to safeguard the child at school? If a family is planning to travel, what considerations, emergency phone numbers and airline guidelines are in place with respect to food allergy concerns?

A significant portion of the book explains diet and ingredients that often disguise the allergy food. Suggestions are outlined for avoiding risky foods and re-thinking diet as well as creating a stress-free, safe-haven at home. Solutions for social situations are explored, for example, how to attend a birthday party prepared with goodies and communication to spouse, child and host. The emotional aspects are addressed such as how awkward a parent may feel when addressing other adults about risks to their own child or how frustration can emerge between people.

Flourishing is useful for parent and any caretaker (medical or educational) as well as organizations which handle food. This book explains the issues with which people must deal when their family member has a serious food allergy. Drawing upon the experiences of many parents of varied circumstances and seeing into how each handles situations can help not just parents, but also those in the food industry (restaurants, cafeterias and manufacturers) and the childcare industry (home based, public and private educators) develop plans to address handling food allergic persons in a tactful and socially responsible way.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Pinnacle Book Award Winner, Health
NABE

As close to a bible on the subject as exists…
Dennis Littrell, Top Reviewer, Amazon

A first pick for any parent…
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review

Great book!
Jim Barnes, Managing Editor & Awards Director, Jenkins

An exceptional book…
Kelly Jad'on, Founder of Basil & Spice

A pleasant, warm, friendly approach to a scary problem…
Tracy B. Fausnight M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Allergy and Immunology, Penn State Children's Hospital

Clear examples and incentives to those training food handlers…
International Food Hygiene, Positive Action Publications Ltd., East Yorkshire, England

An empowering guide…
MaryKay Hill, Executive Director, Vermont Food Allergy Organization

A valuable resource...
Roxanne H. Condon, MS, LPC Master of Science

Thoughtfully written and straight to the point…
Deana Boucher, RD CDE

An invaluable resource…
Deborah Markus, Secular Homeschooling Editor

I absolutely loved it!!!...# 1 book to read...
Karen A. Jordan, Executive Director, Berkshire Food Allergy Consulting Services

A must have for your food allergy library…
Sheree’ Godwin, Executive Director and Founder of Food Allergy Association of Wisconsin Inc.

A wealth of information…
Nancy Massotto, Executive Director of Holistic Mom’s Network

Very thought provoking...
Amy Perry, Another Mom's Food Allergy Journey

Impressive…refreshing…encouraging…
Maria Hardy, Founder of Loudoun Allergy Network

Wonderful book!!...a must read…
Rose Boynton, Founder, FACES

An excellent resource…
Jenny Giles, Kansas City Northland Parents of Children with Peanut Allergies

A support-group-in-a-book…
Dena Friedel, Founder/Director of My Food Allergy Support Group

A more comprehensive food allergy resource than many others…
Debbie Bornilla, Coordinator of Food Allergy Parent Education Group

Packed with information….
Debbie Pantano, Leader of the Food Allergy Support Group of Gloucester County

About the Author

A. Anderson was born in 1967 in New York. She was a student of philosophy from 1985 to 1990 at UVM from where she received her B.A. She moved to California and studied law and data communications from 1990 to 1996 at UCLA from where she received a two certifications. She then moved to Connecticut and worked at Yale University from 1997 to 2003 in information technology. While there, she earned two masters certifications from Oracle University, one in design architecture and another in web application development.

In 2003 she had their first son and the second in 2004. She remained at home as a full-time mother with her children for six years. In 2007 and 2008, she wrote Flourishing with Food Allergies and donated her time by speaking at various libraries, bookstores and other locations on the subject of food allergies in children. She has written articles and provided interviews on the subject as well for libraries, radio and television. In 2009, she donated over two hundred of her books to food allergy support group leaders and publications in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Australia in an effort to support new parents, raise awareness in society, and offer guidance such as how to ask our government for more research on food allergies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Papoose Publishing; illustrated edition edition (July 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615187048
• ISBN-13: 978-0615187044
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,015,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A. Anderson was born in 1967 in New York. She was a student of philosophy at UVM from where she received her B.A. She studied law and data communications from 1990 to 1996 at UCLA from where she received two certifications. She then worked at Yale University from 1997 to 2003 in information technology. While there, she earned two masters certifications from Oracle University, in design architecture and web application development. In 2003 she had their first son and the second in 2004 after which she wrote, "Flourishing with Food Allergies," which won the Pinnacle Book Award in 2009. Blog: http://www.flourishingwithfoodallergies.com/blog

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No parent of a food-allergic child should be without this book, October 22, 2008

By 

Dennis Littrell (SoCal) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flourishing with Food Allergies: Social, Emotional and Practical Guidance for Families with Young Children (Paperback)

If you have children with food allergies or suspect that your children may be allergic to certain foods, do yourself and your family a favor and read this book. It is thorough, authoritative, clearly written, and about as close to a "bible" on the subject as exists.

Anderson combines personal experiences stories, case histories and the latest research to show the reader how children and parents can not only cope with allergies to common foods such as wheat, diary, peanuts, tree nuts, etc., but how they can flourish in a world of dietary danger. Beginning with her own experience with two children who are allergic to certain foods--and not the same ones--Anderson shows the reader how to avoid the dangerous foods and how to cope with situations involving the dangerous foods. This is essential since some allergic reactions can be life-threatening.

She also shows how she personally dealt with denial and guilt and then took a pro-active acceptance stand while alerting the reader to the many pitfalls along the way, such as what can happen in preschool and after as your children interact with a world that doesn't realize that they are allergic and must be kept away from certain foods. Anderson made her own personal decision not to send her children to pre-school because of the dangers. For a child allergic to milk, for example, sometimes just the particles of cheese in the air during a pizza party can bring about an attack. Or even bits of the allergen on the fingers of classmates may spell out danger to the susceptible child.

In the next section of the book, Anderson presents stories from other parents of allergic children. These case histories are valuable because they recount different experiences with which readers may identify. These differing experiences can lead readers to recognize situations similar to their own so that potential mistakes are avoided. In the third section entitled "Theories, Facts and Findings," Anderson lays bare some fallacies about food allergies while bringing readers up to date on the latest research. She presents and critiques some of the latest theories from around the world.

Part 2, "The Solutions," begins with "Perspectives" in which two pediatricians, a naturopath, a specialist in allergies, and a psychologist are interviewed. Anderson asks them about their experiences and their recommendations for treatment and how allergic children and their parents might be helped socially and emotionally in dealing with allergy. Then she turns to her husband who presents his experience as a father of two food-allergic children. He recounts the stages of paralysis, avoidance, frustration, ... and finally acceptance that most of us would have to go through before finding a way forward. Anderson ends with an in-depth look at diet and how to avoid the main allergens that may be hiding in everyday foods in the supermarket. Finally, there is a section on social situations where parents and their allergic children have to be careful such as at birthday parties, at school or while traveling. Anderson gives detailed and specific advice on what to expect and what to do about it.

Although "empowering" is a word often overused these days, I can say without the shadow of a doubt that the parent who has this book will be greatly empowered in the day-to-day challenge of raising happy and healthy food-allergic children. Grandparents and professionals who work with children would also empower both themselves and children in their care by reading this enormously helpful book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Exactly What I Was Expecting, October 12, 2009

By 

Julie Peterson "Booking Mama" (Central PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flourishing with Food Allergies: Social, Emotional and Practical Guidance for Families with Young Children (Paperback)

As a mother of a young child with severe food allergies, I thought FLOURISHING WITH FOOD ALLERGIES: SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, AND PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN by A. Anderson would be a very useful book. I consider myself a pretty educated mother on the topic of food allergies, but I'm always looking for new-to-me information about how best to handle this issue.

I admit that this book has been sitting on my shelves for some time because when I skimmed through the book, I discovered that it really wasn't what I was expecting. This book does have its share of helpful information, but I think it is geared more to parents who have just discovered that their kid has food allergies. I didn't really learn a lot of new things specifically about food allergies and how to best handle them with my son.

Initially, I was drawn to the idea that this book discussed the "social, emotional, and practical guidance" aspect of having a child with food allergies. I was hoping that this book would help me help my child deal with his allergies. I wanted "advice" on how to teach him and his friends about his allergies. In addition, I wanted assistance in explaining to him why he can't eat what other kids are eating and how not to make him feel left out. (I would have loved a listing of educational books or DVDs that deal with food allergies.) There were some helpful hints about how to handle parties and school and ingredient listings, but the book was still lacking for me -- maybe it's because I have thoroughly researched food allergies on my own over the past five years.

I found that the author tended to write about her personal experiences a little too much for me rather than focusing on the general. She was probably trying to show the reader that others are experiencing the same situation, but it just didn't appeal to me. Much of the book's audience might like this aspect of the book; however, I often times had issues with her basic philosophies about food, allergies, and child-rearing. For example, there is a section of the book devoted to why the author chose not to send her boys to preschool as well as another section explaining how to prepare them for kindergarten. I don't want to make it sound like the author judged parents who make different decisions the she did -- because she didn't. I just don't think details on how to educationally prepare your child for kindergarten is relevant in a book about food allergies.

Another thing that I found confusing about this book were the sections devoted to other parents talking about their experiences with their children's food allergies. I can pretty much guarantee that some of the testimonials will ring true, but I found myself getting very overwhelmed with all the different information that was thrown out. I had a similar reaction to the sections of the book where professionals discussed their opinions about food allergies. One thing's for sure, there is definitely not any agreement as to what causes food allergies or what to do about them. Later in the book, the author mentions that she was deliberating showing all of the differences to highlight that a great deal of research still needs to be conducted.

And ultimately, that's where I found myself agreeing most with the book. There are lots of children and families whose lives are deeply affected by severe food allergies; and there doesn't seem to be a general consensus about how to best handle them. I commend the author for tackling a lot of these issues even though I didn't always agree with her. I liked that the author provided a sample letter in the back of the book to write to your elected representatives requesting more money and research for food allergies. I think it's something that every parent of children with food allergies should send.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource for Parents, November 2, 2008

By 

VT SLP "VT SLP" (Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flourishing with Food Allergies: Social, Emotional and Practical Guidance for Families with Young Children (Paperback)

This book is a wonderful resource for parents. I am a speech-language pathologist and am thrilled that there is such a wonderful book to recommend to parents of children with food allergies. It offers practical, useful information and lets parents know that living with food allergies is truly manageable!